A
coffeehouse located near
Vanderbilt and Belmont Universities in metro
Nashville, TN. Renovated from a
Tudor house originally built in the 1920's, Bongo sports monthly
art exhibits and serves a lovely glass of iced
chai or fruit
tea in addition to self-roasted
coffees.
Bongo Java's true infamy, though, lies in its pastry. Not their home-baked confections, per se, (although tasty), but the Mother Teresa Cinnamon Bun.
The "nun bun", served to a Bongo Java customer in 1997, very, very, vaguely resembles the late Mother Teresa- if one looks at it from a particular angle. After its "discovery", Bongo issued a press release and subsequently ended up touring its precious cinnamon bun around the world, appearing on David Letterman and CNN.
Heralded as a message from God, the bun now lives eternally on display, shellaced and encased in a glass box, flanked by Christmas lights and naked Barbies, for all the world to see. I believe T-shirts with the Mother Theresa Cinnamon Bun image are available for purchase.
Considering the natural human tendency to find images- especially human faces- in the organic patterns of woodgrain and clouds, combined with the seemingly massive quantities of hallucinogenic drugs consumed by Belmont students, the "nun bun"'s discovery was inevitable.
I'm just glad it happened in Nashville.
/msg me if you want a t-shirt, eh?